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Anna's Balancing Act
Actress Anna Paquin finds time for fame and friends.
Marisa Fox
Some kids dreams of going into show
business, while other get their lucky break when
they're not even looking. Take Anna Paquin:
Though she never envisioned life in the
Hollywood spotlight, she's one in-demand actress.
This year, Anna has been in a string of films
which showcase her considerable talents. She
made audiences laugh as little sister Mackenzie in
the romantic comedy She's All That. And in the
recent A Walk on the Moon, Anna stars as Alison
Kantrowitz, a precocious, 14-year-old from
Brooklyn who gets swept up by Woodstock and
the 1969 "Summer of Love."
React caught up with the 16-year-old actress at
Manhattan's posh Four Seasons Hotel when she
was in town for the 1999 React Take Action
Awards. Looking less like a celebrity and more
like a preppy high school student in her long
silver-gray pleated skirt and blue cardigan, Anna
admits that it's still 'strange seeing myself
on-screen." But with movies booked until the end of
2000, it's something she'll be getting used to.
Anna, a native of Wellington, New Zealand, and
the daughter of high school teachers, wasn't
exactly groomed to have a career in showbiz.
Aside from singing tunes from the musical
Annie in her bedroom as a little girl,
she had no plan to become a performer.
That all changed when Anna accompanied her friend
to an audition for a dark drama set in 19th century
New Zealand called The Piano. It was a complete
fluke that she was cast.
"I was just hanging out with my friend, and they put
us in a room where they were eliminating girls based
on whether you looked like [lead actress] Holly Hunter
or not," Anna says. "And I was small enough because
Holly is quite petite. So it all just worked our...
strangely."
At the age of 11, Anna scored a Best Supporting Oscar
for her role in the 1993 film. In it, she plays Flora.
a girl who has to communicate for her mute mom.
After that star-making turn, movie offers started
rolling in. In 1996, Anna starred in the sweet
family film Fly Away Home as Amy Alden,
a young girl who helps a flock of geese fly south for the
winter. It was her second major role. She was 13,
and she has been busy working ever since.
Anna has grown up considerably over the years. Well,
sort of. "I still don't know how to drive. In fact,
I still don't have my permit," she admits with a
giggle. "But I'm sure I could figure it out."
Though she moved from New Zealand to Los Angeles
in the past year, Anna doesn't link herself with
the young Hollywood star squad. And she would
rather stay at home with friends than hang out
at a trendy club any day. "I don't even look
close to 21," she says. "So I wouldn't embarrass
myself trying."
School is a major priority for Anna. When she's
not shooting a film, she attends classes at a
private high school. Whenever possible, she tries
to schedule her movies during vacations.
"There has to be something about the script or
the character I'm playing that has to get me
really excited about doing it," she says about
choosing her roles. "if not, then it becomes
a job."
Anna was particulary drawn to her role as
Alison, a girl dealing with the seperation of her
parents, in A Walk on the Moon In real life,
Anna had to deal with her own parents' divorce. "Those
memories are still very real and painful," she
says. "But if those feelings can help me reach
other people, then it's OK."
For now, though, life with her mom in L.A. is
pretty sunny. She's excited about her upcoming
film, All the Rage, in which she plays
a punk girl. "I got to be a blonde," she says.
And this summer, she started work on a movie
directed by Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire.)
This class of 2000 high school student also has
college on her mind. She already has scoped out
some schools on the East Coast. But she won't be
majoring in acting. "Acting is one big, elaborate
game of make-believe," she says with a smile. "I'm
afraid that if I start to approach it so self-consciously,
I won't be able to do it anymore."
With an Oscar under her belt, it hardly seems Anna
needs any lessons. And speaking of Oscars,
where is her award stashed? "in my closet, next to
a pair of shoes," she says with a laugh. " A pair of
sneakers to be exact." For this down-to-earth
actress, that sound about right.
React, May 10 - 16, 1999
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